HAS ANYONE USED A SOLAR ELECTRIC FENCE CHARGER

[Katiean]

I am having to move my horses and one space I found has a really bad fence on the outside fence. The horses that were there before were full size and would lean over the fence so it is leaning really bad. Also it is chain link and curled up at the bottom real bad. In addition there are train tracks that run the length of the back fence. Oh, and I might add, they are on the end of the development and there are coyotes. I need to find out if the solar fence chargers actually work. Do they hold enough charge to run the night and what if it isn't so sunny? Do they still work?

 

[dgrminis]

We have a solar charger here - it does work if your horses know what a hot wire is already - in my opinion it is not as good as our others that have to be plugged in as it isn't as powerful and it doesn't shock as often (not sure what the actual term for that is but it seems to take longer to run the course). Our horses in with it all respect a hot wire but one and he is constantly going in and out of the area where that wire is because it doesn't shock him all the time. But we occasionally change it out with the more powerful one and then he remembers what the wire is... In our case it is just surrounding some round bales of hay so not like he could get hurt if he got out...

I know brand and size probably play a roll in how well they work...

Good luck if you try one...

 

[Kiss This]

I have to run an electric fence in my back field which I have 600-800lb steers in & it is powered by a solar fencer. They never get out, but I only use it in the summer steers are gone before the snow falls, so can't help you as to whether it works in the winter. Very efficient & it works at night. Still need to buy a good one though.

 

[mini horse mania]

we use the 10 mile one from TSC. It works good up to about 2 acres. the ground is the most important in getting it to work properly. we are thinking of a P30- It is car battery operated, and does 10 acres. The solar one will stay working with up to 14 days of no sun, but the battery one lasts 12 days without charging the battery.

 

[targetsmom]

Found out the hard way they only work with WIRE and won't work with any kind of TAPE.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Yes, you have to use WIRE. DO NOT USE TAPE OR ROPE. Solar is not powerful enough for that. Even a 2m AC charger can put out 10x the output that a solar does.

 

[mini horse mania]

I use mine with the poly wire....it works good....it has 6 strands of small galvanized wire in it

 

[ironbessflint]

Mine solar fencer works just fine with our tape??

I've got two (one full size) that will test and they DEFINITELY do get shocked. Showing plenty of voltage on the fence tester too.

 

[Marty]

I have a solar charger and it does work well. In the winter when the horses are hairy, forget it. They don't feel it.

However a word of warning> I would never rely on hot wire alone so I hope you aren't thinking of doing that. I use mine as backup to a regular fence (field fencing). I don't care how many strands you use, wire, tape or rope if those horses get a notion to run, or get scared in a panic, they will go through it so be sure you have a very safe fence first. Then add hot wire. That place with the fencing which is leaning and not safe at the bottom either, plus a train track and coyotes, sounds like a recipe for big trouble. Perhaps a good idea may be to keep on looking for a better place. Sorry you are being put through this. Good luck and take care.

 

[kaykay]

We used to have one but switched over to a regular charger. Its too cloudy here in Ohio. Dang thing would always go out during winter and spring. Got to be too much of a hassle so we switched.

 

[sfmini]

We use a solar charger on our tape and have no problem with it. Just bought another to power the area where the full sized horses are living. Doing our best to save as much on our power bill as we can, just can't stand yet another $900 winter electric bill!!

 

[shelterwood]

We used a solar charger from Tractor Supply at first for my two mares, 2 acre one I think. They respected it for a while, but as soon as winter coats came in they felt nothing and went right through it. Once they learned that, forget it. Luckily my whole property is fenced with wire field fence, so they weren't going anywhere, but it made for problems anyway. I found the solar charger simply wasn't reliable all around, and as time went on, it seemed to loose its kick. We did only have one ground rod however. We switched to an AC charger (my husband is an electrician, so setting this up was no issue, and we have power in the barn) and it is fantastic. The girls do not so much as look at the fence in an attempt to go through it, and they are in full on winter woolies now. We did sink another ground rod, so I do feel that this helped, and as many as three, as recommended by manufacturers would be better still, but a challenge in our rocky soil. In terms of electric bill, not noticeable for us, maybe a few dollars a month. Peace of mind outweighs this for me. As you probably know, and I learned quickly, minis are little houdinis, so safe fence is paramount. Good luck, having to move your horses must be stressful!!

Katie

 

[happy appy]

I have solar and use it for large and small horses without a problem. I do have pagewire as a back up for the fence line but have never had a mini or large horse go through it summer or winter. I blanket my large horses in the winter as needed and they sometimes will test the line but will still get zaped even through their blankets and back off. I have found that the straight wire works best for all seasons. I do have the tape for visibility but it's not hot, only the wire is so it carries the current better. I also have 4 grounding rods. The more the better when you are talking electic fence.

 

[Charlotte]

I have a solar charger and it does work well. In the winter when the horses are hairy, forget it. They don't feel it. However a word of warning> I would never rely on hot wire alone so I hope you aren't thinking of doing that. I use mine as backup to a regular fence (field fencing). I don't care how many strands you use, wire, tape or rope if those horses get a notion to run, or get scared in a panic, they will go through it so be sure you have a very safe fence first. Then add hot wire. That place with the fencing which is leaning and not safe at the bottom either, plus a train track and coyotes, sounds like a recipe for big trouble. Perhaps a good idea may be to keep on looking for a better place. Sorry you are being put through this. Good luck and take care.

I ditto Marty here. you MUST have a good sound perimiter fence wherever your horses are or you are asking for trouble big time. And the safety of the horses is the first priority.

That said, We've used solar powered for many years and they work great as long as you have a good ground. In dry/drought conditions then even the plug in ones aren't worth much. Also, with the winter coats the minis get and some have very heavy manes there is almost nothing that will shock enough through that.

Also, when using electric fencing, horses should be TRAINED to it. If not they most likely will run through it when they get the shock.

That chain link fencing sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Like others said, I'd suggest you keep looking.

Hopefully just the right place will turn up soon.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have only ever seen a solar charger that charges the battery that powers the energiser, so I am not sure what you mean- but mine works fine so long as the battery I put on it is fully charged and I re-charge it twice or three times a year...BUT I would never Ever use a hotwire as a perimeter fence,never. I am 100% behind Marty on this one.

I have one horse who will listen for the "ticks" and then just duck under, summer or winter, she does not care. That horse would be dead on your railway and the train possibly derailed and a HUGE lawsuit against you.

Don't do it is my advice.

 

[Katiean]

I don't know if I can post this or not. But here is a birds eye view of the pen and tracks. Notice that the fence by the tracks. That is what I am concerned about. The run in is in the lower left and the bathtub for water is on the far right. The fence on the far right is like a swimming pool fence. I wish it was all like that.

The fence by the tracks is bent over.

 

[rubyviewminis]

We are at a higher altitude than you on the other side of the state, more snow and bought the cheapest solar charger and wire for two acre pastures we could at CAL. Three years later, it still works wonderful for our large and small horses, and we also have it at two levels on a five foot horse fence. I protect my little ones. We have never had any problems and that darn thing puts out a strong jolt even in winter and with winter woolies. It is maintenance free so far.

 

[Marty]

No Katiean. That's not a good place. Way too dangerous to even consider it. Think about it: Bad fence and train track. Forget it. You'll find something else just keep looking.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I pushed in real wood posts and put no climb fencing in. I then have a strand of wide tape that is electrified with a solar charger to keep the boys from rubbing their butts on the fencing and making it sag. I used to use several strands of wide tape as my only fencing and made a fence of sorts using tape only for my big horses with push in posts, and I had a reinforced paddock for night time.

My breeder wouldn't sell me a mini unless I put in some wire fencing in addition to the tape for my turnout area. Best advice she could have given me for peace of mind. Minis are little escape artists and I think they are worse than biggies at testing the system for escape.

The tape used alone sagged in the wind and snow and since I am close to a road, it just wasn't a good safe way to go. On solar fencing keeping my tape hot, I had no problems with that. It is hot enough to make them respect it even with winter woolies. I bought a good fencer, it has been worth the money. It is still going three years later. I backed into it once, almost wet myself.

LOL. It is plenty hot.

The good thing about putting in something like redbrand no climb fencing is that you can stretch it pretty far between posts and if you use tape or wire to keep them off the fence, it doesn't sag at all. I would never again just use tape to keep anything in.

 

[Katiean]

Well, I factored everything in and I guess I will keep looking. It is 12 miles twice a day to feed. My truck gets about 16-18 miles per gallon. So that is 722 miles a month. Even figuring 18 miles per gallon and that is 41 1/3 gallons a month not counting going to the feed store or hay yard. Figuring an average of $3.55 per gallon. Gives me a total of aprox. $146 per month. That added to the $100 per month and $80 for feed That is $326 a month. I can do that. I guess it is time to make my choices on which horses I keep and which ones I sell. Even with selling I will only knock off about $40 a month.

It just isn't going to work.